Bringing Japan to Italy: episode 04 – Takeuchi Hideki

Bringing Japan to Italy: episode 04 – Takeuchi Hideki

On the occasion of the Far East Film Festival, we had the honor and pleasure of being able to interview Takeuchi Hideki, director of “Fly me to the Saitama” (翔んで埼玉 – Tonde Saitama), presented in Italy during the festival for its European premiere!

Takeuchi Hideki made his debut working for Fuji Television and in 1996 he directed the first of his series for this TV station. In 1998 he won the award for best director at the Television Drama Academy Awards for “Just a Little More, God” but the awards won didn’t stop there.

His movie debut came in 2009 with the dramatic two-part musical comedy Nodame Cantabile. Takeuchi Hideki continues to alternate between the big and small screen with Thermae Romae and two television series, passing with great ease from the historical drama to the brilliant comedy.

Thermae Romae has achieved such a resounding success in the Japanese box office that Takeuchi-san created the sequel, Thermae Romae II, released on April 26, 2014 and previewed after a week at the 16th Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy.

This year, the director returned to the Far East Film Festival with “Fly me to the Saitama”, a brilliant and somewhat surreal comedy about the parochialism that exists between Saitama and Tokyo, starring singer and actor GACKT-san and actress Fumi Nikaido, supported by other famous names within the cast. Fly me to the Saitama, also won the MyMovies.com award for best film acclaimed by the public.

The one with Takeuchi-san was an interesting and entertaining interview that tells the backstage of the film, curiosities and perspectives for future collaboration between Italy and Japan. Enjoy the video and we are curious to know your feedback!